Hammer rest-rail for pianos.



W. G. BETZ.

HAMMER REST RAIL FOR PlANOS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, ms.

1,143,936. Patented June 22, 1915.

2 55555: fin/5272311 $.82 Mu Z/ZVZZZZEmEBEZZ.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0" PHOTO-LITHIL, WASHINGTON. D. C.

: wI I;IA1vI s. new, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIs.

' To a'ZZJwhom it may concern V Be it known that-I, WILLIAM G. BE'rz, a

"citizen-of the United States" of America, re-

" siding 7 State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Hammer Resta specification; r i My invention has to do10 in Chicago, county of Cook, and

Rails for Pianos, of which the following is v p I with hammer rest-railsfor pianos and is directed more particularly to'reinforced hammer-rails,that is rest-rails constructed of wood and'metal,

- an object of my invention being to provide 7 a reinforced hammer-railwhich is slmple of construction, cheap to manufacture andone'whichalthough including wood or like material initsstructurewill notwarp.

In the ordinary hammer rest-rail which is provided for pianos," it .isdesirable to have one which is light in weight so that it may be easilymoved by the operation of the foot pedal and therefore wooden rails areusually employed but due .to the lightness of the I structure necessarythey very often warp out of shapeand thus thehammers on the pianos willnot set inalinementr To overcome this defect I have provided a hammerrest-rail which comprises a wooden body re 7 inforced byv ameta-llicangularly-shaped bar associated with the woodenportion of the rail insuch a manner that the wooden portion may be readily attached to thereinforcing angle plate without permitting the wooden part toJwarp; anddraw away from its reinforcement For a'better understanding of myinvention, reference isto, be had to the accompanying drawing in which'-V Figure '1 is a transverse section through the preferred embodiment ofmy invention shownin connection with a hammer and action bracket such asare ordinarily employed; .Fig. 2 is a perspective-view of thepreferredmethod of hinging the rail to the action brackets, this viewalso showing a longitudinal view of a part of thehammer- V rail.

Referring now; more particularly to the preferred construction which Iemploy, I

have shown a hammer rest-rail A comprls- 7 ing preferablyan elongatedangularly shaped metallic reinforcing member 3 to which isattachedahammer rest2'preferably of wood upon a soft surface.

may rest.

.to enter a felt bushing 7 carried by the U i p at 16 t r en PatentedJune 22, 1915. 7 Application filed July as, 1913. Serial No. 781,339.

manner'but I preferably provide screws 5 which extend through the base 3of the reinforcing angle while the overhanging portion 2 is ofsufficient strength to prevent the rest 2 fromwarping and drawing awayfrom the angle 3. By'the use of the portion 2 the useof fastening screwsin the vertical leg 3 of the angle plate is obviated and therefore theface of 3 may present a plain finished surface toward the front of thepiano. A felt strip 4 is then suitably secured to the wood strip 2 inany suitable manner, but preferably by gluing so that the hammers B mayrest directly For the purpose of illustration a standard "form of actionbracket 1 is shown having a shelf 1 which supports a felt piece 8 onwhich the rail A The hammer rest-rail A may be hinged to the actionbrackets 1 in any suitable manner but I preferably provide hingedmembers 6 which are preferably threaded into the wooden rest 2 and bentat a right angle bracket '1. This type of hinging is simple and alsopermits of adjustment by means of the screw threaded end which entersthe block 2. 7 g

Although I- have shown no connection from the hammer rest-rail A to afoot pedal,

such connection may be provided in. any suitable manner so as to permitan adjusting movement ofthe hammer rest-rail A in a well-known mannerfor the purpose of adjusting the hammers B for different lengths oftravel, when actuated by the keys.

Although I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention I amaware that many changes in shape and structure will readily suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art and therefore I do not desire tobe limited to the exact structure as shown and described but aim tocover all that which comes within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaim.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by United States LettersPatent, is:

Ahammer rest-rail for pianos comprising an L-haped angle-iron, a woodenrail fitted Within the angle formed by the legs of the Signed by me atChicago, county of Cook angle-iron, means for attaching the rail to land State of Illinois, in the presence of two the horizontal leg oftheangle, and. a slotteet Witnesses. I

overhanging "portion for the rail embracmg WILLIAM G. BETZ. 5 the upperend of the vertical leg for securely 'Witnesses:

holding the upper portion of the rail and. I EFMU'ELLER,

the vertical leg together. 1 t f O. B. SCHRAM.

copies of thin patent nlay be obtained for five cents each, by gddressing the Commissioner of I'atencefif Washington, D. 0. I

